Henry County teachers deliver books to students for summer

Teachers used school bus to make surprise deliveries Friday

HENRY COUNTY, Va. – Early Friday morning, GW Carver Elementary School teachers loaded a school bus to deliver books to 28 students at 12 homes.

An additional 56 students got books Wednesday before they left school for the summer.

"Oh, I was really excited," Regina Bethel-Trotter said about seeing the teachers deliver books to her home.

Bethel-Trotter's house was the first stop on Friday's delivery.

She's glad her grandkids will have something educational to do over the summer.

"That's what I want. I mean, I want them to progress and do the best they can," Bethel-Trotter said.

The idea came from GW Carver reading specialist Stacey Joyce.

Ironically, she got the idea while reading.

"About a year ago, I read an article in one of my reading journals. It was an article about a school that had done something similar to this in the summer. I thought it was a fantastic idea. So, I kind of pitched the idea to my principal," Joyce said. "He thought it was a great idea, so we got the staff on board and collected student names that we thought would benefit from this."

At Rebecca Spencer's house, the kids did not hesitate to come outside when the bus pulled up.

"Oh, wow. I wasn't expecting a bus to pull up with books and all the teachers. It was quite a surprise," Spencer said.

The books are leftovers that were donated for events during the school year.

First grade teacher Tina Reynolds was happy to spend time Friday morning delivering books to students.

"This gives them an opportunity to grow in reading, where a lot struggle, and I think it'll just be exciting for the parents and the students," Reynolds said.